A Fatal Feast At Bramsford Manor by Darci Hannah
Cozy mystery author Darci Hannah gives us yet another brand new cozy mystery and brand new series: A Fatal Feast at Bramsford Manor, a Food & Spirits Mystery.
Bridget “Bunny” McBride is a natural born cook. In fact, she started cooking at the age of 10, and at 29, honed her professional skills to become a menu developer and chef on an upscale TV cooking show.
When the star of the TV cooking show offers her a job as a head chef with her very “own” TV cooking show, she jumped at the chance! It’s a dream job for Bunny. But even the dream of a lifetime can come with “fine” print. And for those of you who love to “skip” the fine print (and frankly, who doesn’t?), it can land you in all sorts of chaos and trouble – as Bunny finds out, the hard way!
But let’s back up. Bunny finds herself, along with her new TV crew, hosting her own cooking show at Bramsford Manor, located in the countryside of Hampshire (outside of London). It’s a huge stately hotel with it’s own five-star restaurant. It’s also known to be haunted!
Bramsford’s most famous legend is that of the Mistletoe Bride. Three hundred years ago, a girl was playing a game of hide and seek on her wedding night. Unfortunately, she got locked inside a chest, never to be found. A heartbroken groom searched for years to no avail – assuming his bride-to-be had run off or was abducted – no one seemed to know for sure. Fifty years later her faithful groom made the gruesome discovery.
It is said the Mistletoe Bride has never really left the manor and still weeps with sadness. The manor’s owners, Sir Charles Wallingford and his sister, Morgan, play up the legend to keep a steady flow of curious hotel guests.
This is an intriguing twisty tale of a crime of the past, still haunting Bramsford Manor in the present. But some crimes of the past can pave the way for crimes of the future, as everyone at Bramsford Manor finds out.
When a heinous murder is discovered by Bunny, she and her motley cooking show staff “roll with it.” They don’t have a choice. They, along with just about everyone else at the manor, are suspects and not allowed to leave (even if they wanted to)! Bunny and her TV cooking show crew turn into amateur sleuths – after all, it could seriously boost their new show’s ratings!
There are so many twists and turns in this old tale coming back to life. Engaging and quirky characters make this cozy an exceptional romp into a modern day murder. A TV crew sure to keep everyone smirking, a white rabbit appearing out of nowhere, a clairvoyant granny, ghosts from the past, a ghost from the present, lies, deceit, rivalry and treachery—all make for a perfect mystery! Finding the present day killer and how he or she links to the past will not be an easy trail to follow.
Author Darci Hannah does it AGAIN! If you’re a cozy mystery fan, be sure to check out the first in this new series, A Fatal Feast At Bramsford Manor, available this month. You won’t be disappointed – and let this also be a lesson to “always read the fine print”!
A copy of this book and cover photo were provided by Kensington Publishing.